By Max Bruns
It’s been over 12 years since the New York Jets made the playoffs. 2011 – the year Aaron Rodgers won his first and only Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers after the 2010 NFL season.
Now the star quarterback is playing for the Jets and could ensure that the New Yorkers could finally achieve success again after a long wait. But where are the Jets taking Rodgers? Is it enough to get into the playoffs and maybe even win the division? Is it over after the regular season or does New York make the big hit?
Lack of quality at the QB position
Thanks to Rodgers, hopes in the “Big Apple” have at least been reawakened. But so are the expectations. But the trend of the past few seasons does not exactly speak for the green franchise from New York. The Jets only ended one of the last twelve seasons with a positive result (2015/10-6).
No wonder, one might almost say, if you look at the signal callers of the respective seasons. The Jets quarterbacks over the past decade have included Zach Wilson, Sam Darnold, Josh McCown, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith. All – at the respective time – decent playmakers – but nothing more.
Jets and the missing piece of the puzzle
For years, a good quarterback seemed like the missing piece of the puzzle to finally make the playoffs again. As in the past season, when the Jets were 6-3 and 7-4 with Wilson in the meantime and it actually looked good. But the fact that Mike White and Joe Flacco were also used in addition to Wilson during the season shows the lack of continuity in the quarterback position.
Rodgers is slated to close that site for at least the next two years and be that piece of the puzzle. And the other pieces of the puzzle? On closer inspection, they are equipped with the necessary quality.
On the defense, which is currently New York’s hobbyhorse, Sauce Gardner stands out in the secondary. Last season’s Defensive Rookie of the Year is one of the best cornerbacks in the league. The Jets can therefore rely on the pass defense. The statistics also show this: In 2022, the Jets allowed the third fewest passing yards against themselves (3220) – and one of the fewest passing touchdowns (15).
New York has a playoff roster
The Jets may have been mediocre in defense against the run, but they have two top players on the roster in defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and middle linebacker CJ Mosley.
Offensively, the quality around the quarterback is also right. Finally, a Jets player also won Offensive Rookie of the Year. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson will be one of Rodgers’ central passes, who will also meet an old acquaintance in New York. Allen Lazard was signed in the offseason – the receiver last played in Green Bay.
As far as the running game goes, the Jets will also have top prospect Breece Hall again as the season progresses. The running back suffered a serious knee injury last season and isn’t back to 100 percent yet.
What’s in it for the jets?
So the potential for something bigger seems to be there. There is no question that this is also the case with four-time MVP Rodgers, despite his weak past season. The only question is whether he can build on his outstanding performances from the years before.
Not only is the success of the Jets at stake for Rodgers, but his entire career. If he doesn’t deliver in New York, he’ll have to admit that the Packers rightly didn’t have confidence in him anymore. After all, that’s how he perceived it prior to joining the Jets.
But what if Rodgers actually becomes “Houdini” again? So what’s in it for the team coached by head coach Robert Saleh?
Great competition within the division
A look at the division is enough to say that it will be difficult here alone. The AFC East is without question one of the toughest in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots.
The Dolphins and Bills in particular are peppered with big stars like Tyreek Hill, Jalen Ramsey, Josh Allen and Von Miller. For the division win, the Jets would have to put in a hammer season. But it doesn’t necessarily need this to reach the playoffs.
If New York should show a clearly positive balance again after years, the post-season is more than just a long-awaited wish of the Jets fans. After all, making the playoffs after the Rodgers deal should be the Jets’ absolute minimum goal.
Super Bowl required for New York?
Anything else would be a disappointment. Just like not reaching the Super Bowl, as some US experts believe. But are the Jets ready for the Super Bowl? Probably not. At least not this season.
The playoffs must be made, without question – especially considering what the Jets sent to Green Bay for Rodgers:
A first-round pick (13), a second-round pick (42), a sixth-round pick (207) in this year’s draft, and a future pick in 2024 (at least a second-round pick) General Manager Joe Douglas and company have traded to the Packers in exchange for Rodgers and other picks . The franchise has more or less gone all-in with it.
Gardner believes in triumph
So at least in Rodgers’ second Jets season, the Super Bowl should be an issue. Otherwise, this deal will be discussed for a long time.
At least one has believed in success for quite some time. Gardner recently published a chat history with Rodgers in which he wrote that he wanted to win the Super Bowl with him.
Rodgers replied, “That would be a pretty cool story, wouldn’t it?”
But this year the quarterback and his new team are all about the playoffs – and that goal is anything but unrealistic. Even if many a Jets fan would hardly believe it after twelve years without a post-season game.
2023-04-26 13:43:17
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